IMPACT OF CONTAINERIZATION IN INTERNATIONAL PURCHASING

IMPACT OF CONTAINERIZATION IN INTERNATIONAL PURCHASING

ABSTRACT

This project consists of five chapters, each containing distinct information on the project. The value of containerisation as a marketing strategy was investigated with the goal of determining its contributions to industrial product purchases. To conduct the research, a sample of one hundred (100) industrial purchasers was taken from Aba Road in Port-Harcourt, Onne. To collect data, personal interviews and two sets of questionnaires were used, one for industrial users and the other for employees. The findings were analysed using percentages, while the hypothesis was evaluated using the chi-square technique at a 5% level of significance. The following hypotheses were tested: containerisation of a product attracts a buyer, containerisation of a product influences a user’s decision to buy. During the research, useful findings were discovered, including the use of good colour combinations, materials, and an appropriate shape and design to attract buyer attention. It was also discovered that containerisation has a significant impact on product marketing in addition to its usual purpose of protection. The belief in that container is a silent salesman. Aside from that, industrial buyers are motivated to buy specific materials based on delivery, quality, price, and quantity; thus, for a company to achieve its goals, management should provide containerisation and intelligent leadership and support, as container is a dynamic, complex, and contentious business area. This involves ensuring that their containerisation strategies are correctly applied. Containers or packing, as the name implies, have a wide range of applications, including product protection, identification, and distinction of a certain brand for storage purposes.

Chapter one

Introduction

1.1 Background of the Study

Containerisation is a recent phenomena in transportation that has spread through all means of transportation like wildfire. It allows many modes of transportation and vehicles to work together to simulate and complete freight transportation journeys.

Containerisation is the use of big metal boxes to pack items to be transported across long distances in order to enable handling and transfer between different vehicles. Since its inception in transportation, containerisation has been adopted by port authorities, governments, and industries.

According to Amanze (1989:24-25), containers reduce the number of movements and handling necessary to transport a given quantity of cargo and ensure they are more efficient than otherwise.

However, the boxes that function as containers in transportation often have three distinct qualities, which are: (a) THEY ARE STANDARDISED: They must be the same size, shape, and substance so that they can be conveniently transported by different vehicles in various modes of transportation in different nations and contents.

(a) THEY ARE robust AND WEATHERPROOF: Transport containers must be robust, tough, and weatherproof in order to survive severe environments such as seas and ports while also ensuring the safety of the items they transport.

For this reason, containers are composed of steel, aluminium, or a combination of these and other non-rusting metals. (c) THEY’RE LARGE: Containers must be large enough to hold bulk items.

Where containers are very small, the quantity of trans-shipment handling required would be significant, contradicting the purpose of containerisation.

However, containers must not be so enormous that they cannot fit into the vehicles used to convey large cargo in various modes of transportation.